Maryville University, based in St. Louis, Mo., announced Wednesday its plans to elevate its men’s hockey program to the NCAA Division I level. The school currently houses multiple ACHA teams including a successful ACHA D1 men’s team. 

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The school plans to play a hybrid NCAA season in 2026-27, featuring upwards of 20 games against NCAA Division I opponents, and also mixing in regular ACHA opponents. The school expects to play its first fully-fledged season in the NCAA Division I ranks in 2027-28.

Maryville's athletics director Brittany C. Fennell announced that they have named John Hogan as the assistant athletics director of men’s hockey and the first head coach of the NCAA program. Hogan has been the head coach of the ACHA teams since 2018-19. He is a 31-year-old St. Louis native who played college hockey for the University of Arizona’s ACHA program.

Maryville will mark the second school in the St. Louis area to elevate to Division I, following in the path of Lindenwood University, which currently operates as an independent at the NCAA Men’s Division I level.

𝐀 𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐄𝐫𝐚 𝐨𝐟 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐲𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐲...@MaryvilleHockey is proud to announce the Saints will make the jump to NCAA Division I in 2027-28! 🚨#BigRedM 🐾 | #NCAAHockey 🏒 pic.twitter.com/ycAxKiwS2f

— Maryville Athletics (@MaryvilleSaints) March 4, 2026

The addition of Maryville also would make for a sixth independent team at the Division I level, joining Long Island University, Alaska Fairbanks, Alaska Anchorage, Stonehill and Lindenwood. 

The requirement for a conference to receive an automatic bid into the NCAA men’s hockey tournament is six. Though the schools are not conveniently geographically located, the opportunity to schedule games with each other and potentially earn an autobid into the NCAA tournament may be an attractive option.

The current five independent schools will be playing in an end-of-season tournament called the United Collegiate Hockey Cup, which will air exclusively on FloHockey starting Friday.

Maryville’s announcement states that details on conference affiliation, schedule, recruiting and facility enhancements will be announced in the coming months.

The school also states that it will continue offering hockey at the ACHA level which operate within each of that governing body’s five levels – Men’s D1, Men’s D2, Men’s D3, Women’s D1 and Women’s D2.

"This is a historic moment for our university," said Dr. Dan Shipp, President of Maryville University in a statement. "Launching NCAA Division I men's hockey reflects our continued commitment to academic and athletic excellence, and our belief in creating elite level competitive opportunities for student-athletes who want to achieve at the highest level – right here in St. Louis.”

According to the school, philanthropic funding has been secured to upgrade the facilities that will meet D1 standards.

The addition of Maryville also would make for a sixth independent team at the Division I level, joining Long Island University, Alaska Fairbanks, Alaska Anchorage, Stonehill and Lindenwood. 

The requirement for a conference to receive an automatic bid into the NCAA men’s hockey tournament is six. Though the schools are not conveniently geographically located, the opportunity to schedule games with each other and potentially earn an autobid into the NCAA tournament may be an attractive option.

Maryville’s arrival will bring the NCAA Division I men’s hockey roster to 64 teams starting in 2027-28.

This is just the latest team to experience triumphs at the ACHA level before making the big jump to men’s Division I. Penn State, which had a perennial national championship contender at the ACHA D1 level, made the massive splash in 2011 to go to the NCAA. Their arrival triggered the formation of the Big Ten men’s hockey conference and led to sweeping realignment in men’s college hockey. Penn State also added a Division I women'e hockey program simultaneously.

Arizona State was a rising ACHA program before making the jump to the NCAA in 2015-16. Just last year, they played their first season in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference.

Lindenwood had grown into an ACHA power before making the move to NCAA D1 in 2022-23. They followed their women’s program, which made the jump to the NCAA in 2011-12. The women’s team plays in the Atlantic Hockey America conference, while the men remain independent.

The NCAA men’s hockey landscape continues to evolve, especially after the NCAA began to allow former players from the Canadian Hockey League to maintain eligibility. That has significantly increased the available player pool for NCAA programs, which theoretically could allow teams to find more players to help them compete faster.

Maryville is the first school to arrive on the scene under those new rules and will have to learn how to navigate that new landscape with significant opportunity to grow their program quickly.

The Maryville ACHA Division 1 men’s team is currently ranked No. 7 in the country and received a bye into the second round of the ACHA National Championships presented by FloHockey in St. Louis. They are slated to play March 14 against the winner of the game between University of Mary and Lawrence Tech. 

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